Lovely Saturday tour group yesterday — our last weekend tour of 2025! ✨ We still have spots open for our Friday tours on Nov 21, Nov 28, and Dec 12. Book now via email, DM, or Eventbrite (link in bio)!

REMINDER- Our new themed programme Alasdair & Others begins with an event with Willy Maley at ARC, University of Glasgow. Join us 18 Nov 2025, 4–6pm for talk with @rodgeglass.bsky.social + archive displays. FREE - book via Eventbrite. www.eventbrite.com/e/alasdair-o...

✨ That’s a wrap on The City exhibition! ✨ Thanks to everyone who visited. Exploring Glasgow through a queer, working-class lens, it featured a newly commissioned text by Elouise Blackburn clip here — full reading now on AGA’s YouTube!

We were delighted to welcome the wonderful Whitehill Former Pupils’ Club! 💛 It means so much to connect with former and new pupils of Gray’s Secondary — here’s to making this an annual get-together! ✨ #alasdairgray #thealasdairgrayarchive

Thrilled to have the brilliant @josielong.bsky.social at the archive today! Exciting collaborations ahead 👀 She’s a trailblazing, multi-award-winning comedian, writer & filmmaker—thanks for visiting, Josie! 💫 #alasdairgray #thealasdairgrayarchive

We won the Outstanding Creative Response award for “Glasgow: The Visionary City” at Glasgow Doors Open Day Festival ceremony last night! Huge thanks to all who voted and to our amazing team @sorchadallas.bsky.social Abby Carter & Holly Rennie-Brown💫

Timeline 53 - 2015 – LIFE-CHANGING ACCIDENT: After losing Morag, Alasdair suffered an accident leaving him in a wheelchair. He abandoned large works but completed his Divine Comedy series, which became his focus through recovery. Photo by Alan Dimmick.

No. 52 – 2014: The Alasdair Gray Season, curated by @sorchadallas.bsky.social, brought Glasgow’s largest Gray retrospective to Kelvingrove. That year, Morag, his wife of 23 years, passed away. Of Me and Others was also published. #alasdairgray #thealasdairgrayarchive

📢 Exciting news! Our Custodian, @sorchadallas.bsky.social, has been awarded a British Art Network Connect Bursary 🎉 This August she’ll visit the International Anthony Burgess Foundation to explore the creative ties between Alasdair Gray & Anthony Burgess. #alasdairgray #thealasdairgrayarchive

🎥 Watch The City in Conversation on our YouTube (link in bio)! Introduced by @sorchadallas.bsky.social, chaired by Dr Cole Collins, with Holly Rennie Brown, Bek Ziola & Elouise Blackburn. 🏙️ Last week to visit — Wed–Fri, 10–5pm. #alasdairgray #thealasdairgrayarchive

✨ Don’t miss The City at AGA — curated by Holly-Rennie Brown and reviewed by Evie Glen in this month’s The Skinny. A vivid exploration of queer and working-class histories, community, and care in urban life. Open Wed–Fri, 10–5pm — one week left!

Pls Share! 📣 Teachers! Explore Looking at Glasgow: Buildings and Stories with Alasdair Gray — a new 8-lesson P6–P7 resource on Glasgow’s art, identity & architecture. 🎨 Email [email protected] for free pack! #Glasgow850 #CfE

Delighted to welcome musician, filmmaker, & @sgsah.bsky.social PhD researcher Carla J Easton today! We discussed her work on Since Yesterday documentary & her ongoing research & planned archive with Scottish Music Centre —DIY culture, feminism, care, & overlooked stories, an inspiring chat!

Timeline post 51 – SPT Hillhead Subway Mural Unveiled & Every Short Story 1951–2012 is published, collecting all Alasdair Gray’s short fiction. That year, his 7ft x 40ft Hillhead Subway mural—crafted with Nichol Wheatley & team—transforms Glasgow’s West End station.

Our Custodian @sorchadallas.bsky.social visited Bellahouston Academy with The Travelling Archive today📚✨ Working with Miss Donnelly on new biography-writing materials inspired by Alasdair Gray. New resource & CPD launching next year!

Timeline 50- 2010 – A Life in Pictures published by @canongate.co.uk, a vivid pictorial autobiography of Gray’s life &art. That year also saw Collected Verse, the founding of The Alasdair Gray Foundation, & completion of the May Hooper portraits.

Link to apply here! thealasdairgrayarchive.org/wp-content/u...

📣PLEASE SHARE 📣 Call for Writers! Two 8-month residencies (2026) at AGA & @aowensarchive.bsky.social exploring Neglected Voices. Supported by Creative Scotland. £12k fee, flexible structure. Apply by 4 Dec 2025 👉 [email protected], Link on website to application brief & criteria✍️

Deadline Thursday! thealasdairgrayarchive.org/wp-content/u...

🌟 Thrilled to announce our 2026 Creative Commission (with Creative Writing at The Uni of Strathclyde): the brilliant RACHELLE ATALLA! 🎉 The award-winning Scottish–Egyptian author + screenwriter will create new work inspired by Alasdair Gray. More info via our site! #AlasdairGray #RachelleAtalla

We’re deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Elspeth King — a dear friend and great supporter of Alasdair Gray. 💛 Link in bio to read Gray’s piece on King for Workers City.

🎃 Happy Halloween! 👹 Today we’re exploring Alasdair Gray’s devil motif — a symbol that is a mirror of our fears, failures & corrupt systems. In Lanark, hell is life itself—where the author, like the devil, creates, controls & torments. “Hell is not elsewhere — it’s the world we build for ourselves.”

Our latest monthly newsletter is now live on Substack, give us a follow! alasdairgrayarchive.substack.com?fbclid=PAZnR...

On this day, Oct 30, 1984, 1982, Janine was published. Alasdair Gray’s darkly comic, experimental second novel follows Jock McLeish—alone, drunk, fantasizing, and confronting his failures. A shocking, brilliant portrait of desire and despair.

Timeline #49: 2009 – A Gray Playbook Published: the first anthology of Gray’s plays, featuring The Fall of Kelvin Walker, Mavis Belfrage, McGrotty & Ludmilla, Working Legs, four one-act comedies, & excerpts from the unmade Lanark film. New edition by @luathpress.bsky.social coming Feb 2026.

Next in our Timeline Series No.48: 2008 – DE ROSA 🎶 Alasdair illustrated the cover for De Rosa’s 2009 album Prevention, a stunning portrait featuring his iconic green chair. Now part of the Estate owned collection which AGA cares for.

Fantastic to welcome Boy 313’s Paul McGuigan and Paul Murray to the archive today! McGuigan is a renowned Scottish director and executive producer, and Murray brings over 20 years of UK and international TV experience.

‘The City’ exhibition webinar DATE CHANGE! 6th November at 6.30pm, sign up via Eventbrite, link in bio.

Alasdair & Others: Willy Maley 18 Nov @uofglasgow.bsky.social – free The @agrayarchive.bsky.social celebrates the lives & work of those connected to Alasdair Gray. This event focuses on Prof Willy Maley & features him in conversation with @rodgeglass.bsky.social www.eventbrite.com/e/alasdair-o...

Sold out Saturday tour! Thanks to all who visited! #alasdairgray #thealasdairgrayarchive

Join us for Alasdair & Others, launching with writer Willy Maley in conversation with @rodgeglass.bsky.social at the ARC, University of Glasgow — 18 Nov 2025, 4–6pm. Booking via Eventbrite. #alasdairgray #uofg

October marks Black History Month UK. This year we’re revisiting our March webinar on Alasdair Gray’s anti-colonial commitments, featuring Lauren Forde, Henry Bell & Hussein Mitha—exploring creativity, equity & global solidarity, watch on our YouTube channel.

Timeline 47:In 2007, Gray met @sorchadallas.bsky.social, who revived interest in his visual art. She curated key shows, led major commissions, and founded The Alasdair Gray Archive—ensuring his legacy remains vibrant and widely celebrated.

Next up in our timeline series is entry number 46: 2006 – Goodbye Jimmy Premieres After a decade away from the stage, Goodbye Jimmy marked Alasdair's return to theatre. It debuted at Oran Mor as part of the Play, Pie & Pint series and later enjoyed a week-long run in Edinburgh.

Fantastic chat today at @uofglasgow.bsky.social Creative Conversations with 2 of our 3 amazing commissioned writers & Gutter Magazine! Great insights from Lucy Lauder & Joey Simons + full readings. Thanks to Colin Herd for expert chairing! 🙏

Then one with @agrayarchive.bsky.social, 'Archival Immersion: A Self-Directed Project at The Alasdair Gray Archive' 3/ www.sgsah.ac.uk/e_t/i_ar/202...

Timeline 45: 2005 – Old Men in Love is published, Gray’s final novel. That year, he also gifts Symposium at Nightmare Abbey to Rosemary Hobsbaum—meant as a wedding present 30 years earlier.

Continuing our timeline series: No. 44 - 2004 – Work commences on the Oran Mor mural — a project that would become the largest piece of public art in Scotland, and one that remains unfinished to this day.

🎓 PhD Researchers! Apply for a 3-month paid internship with @sgsah.bsky.social exploring the Alasdair Gray archive. Creative, flexible, self-directed. Deadline: 31 Oct 2025. Open to SGSAH PhDs. www.sgsah.ac.uk/e_t/i_ar/202...

‘Friendship’, the final theme in Holly Rennie Brown’s The City, explores queer, working-class life in Glasgow — where community transforms the city into a space of care, love, and creative connection. Next tour 📅 Friday 7 November — 1pm or email [email protected]

Today we explore the theme of work in ‘The City’ exhibition. Work can mean masking who we are to survive. Scarlett and Choirstaidh share how queer, working-class people navigate jobs with resilience, creativity, and care—often at personal cost. #thecity #alasdairgrayarchive

All welcome! Monday 20th October at 1pm, come hear from our AGA x Gutter commissioned writers Joey Simons and Lucy Lauder, University Memorial Chapel @uofglasgow.bsky.social

Lovely morning with @canongate.co.uk featuring Sylvie ❤️ It’s always been excellent to collaborate with them on all things Gray related, thanks for visiting ❤️ #alasdairgray #thealasdairgrayarchive

Exploring Homemaking in The City—a queer, working-class mapping of Glasgow by curator Holly Rennie Brown. From Bek’s SingStar nights to Choirstaidh’s first flat, it’s about care, resilience, & making a home. Free tour👇🏽 🗓 Fri 7 Nov, 1pm
📩 [email protected]

Yesterday we welcomed Kirstie & Ben from Galerie 5b, who have played an integral role in supporting the critical reappraisal of Carole Gibbons' work, so it was great to discuss the lifelong, creatively supportive friendship between Gibbons and Gray.

The City exhibition explores Glasgow’s queer nightlife as a place for joy, resistance, and memory. Come find out more at our free tour- 📅 : Fri 7 Nov, 1pm 📩 [email protected]

Exploring the 5 themes in ‘The City’ an exhibition on queer, working-class life in Glasgow. Today: Clothes. For many, style expresses identity & gender. From thrifted 8 Ball jackets to bold scarves, clothes become tools of visibility, pride & connection.

Huge thanks to all who joined us at Civic House! 📽️ Of Us & Others by Maya Rose Edwards screened all day—exploring queer identity, memory & kinship. A powerful, moving event—captured by @alasdairwatson.bsky.social

📣 TODAY! Don’t miss Of Us & Others – a powerful new film by Maya Rose Edwards 🎬 Screening 12–5pm at Civic House (drop in anytime!). One day only – Sat 4 Oct! AGA’s first visual art commission supported by @creativescots.bsky.social & the Edwin Morgan Trust

Our October art highlights – new work at @dcadundee.bsky.social and Jupiter Artland, a Glasgow-mapping exhibition at @agrayarchive.bsky.social + more www.theskinny.co.uk/art/showcase... [by @rachelashenden.bsky.social]